Federal grant helps sewer agency recover from superstorm

The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission has received a $2.7 million federal grant to continue its recovery from the devastation wrought by Superstorm Sandy.

The grant, announced this week by Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, is the latest award from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help the authority rebuild. The sewerage authority has requested more than $800 million from the federal agency to repair damage from the storm and improve wastewater treatment.

"PVSC suffered significant damage as a tidal surge overwhelmed the facility," Pascrell said in a statement. "Recovering from this type of destruction requires the full cooperation of local, state and federal resources."

This is the second emergency management grant the authority has received this year. In January, FEMA awarded the authority $16.7 million to fix its sludge treatment building.

Hollie A. Gilroy, an authority spokeswoman, said the agency will use the money to increase capacity in its network of sewer pipes in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. Known as the combined sewer overflow system, the network collects rainwater, sewerage and industrial wastewater in one pipe.

During heavy storms, the systems overflow and cause untreated waste to be deposited directly into coastal waters. These wastes are considered a major form of pollution.

Gilroy said the agency received the grant because its Supernatant Treatment Facility was heavily damaged after Sandy flooded the underground tunnels and destroyed electrical wires, pumps and motors. But the facility is rarely used and so improving the combined sewer system is a higher priority, she said.

Gilroy said in an email exchange that FEMA allows the authority to target the money to wet weather and combined-sewer system projects.

The sewerage commission handles wastewater treatment for nearly 1.5 million residents in Bergen, Passaic, Essex and Hudson counties. It is the largest sewerage commission in the state and fifth-largest in the nation.

Sandy sent a wave of saltwater across the 140-acre campus, flooding buildings and a network of underground tunnels. Without power, raw sewage backed up in the lines, and for several days after the storm 840 million gallons flowed untreated into the Passaic River. By the time the plant was brought back into service three weeks later, an estimated 4.4 billion gallons of partially treated sewage had been released into Newark Bay.

The commission has asked the federal emergency agency to fund the lion's share of the recovery effort through $800 million in grant requests. The most expensive proposal is a $526 million plan to build a bio-solid treatment facility on higher ground.

The utility also wants the government to pay for a new power station at an estimated cost of $65 million, backup generators costing $45 million and a flood wall around the perimeter of the facility at $83 million. So far, FEMA has not granted any of these requests.